Your mother is right, there is no shortcut to studying.
That being said, most people are doing things the long way around.
Imagine what it would be like if you were to read through a textbook without ever looking at the table of contents, or reading the introduction or preface. You'd have some idea what it was about while reading the first chapter, but you wouldn't know what to expect next or how to put it into context. PhotoReading puts everything in the textbook into a context, because you read the whole thing in minutes. PhotoReading also lets you know what to expect next, because the PhotoReading step of the whole mind system works on the implicit, intuitive memory.
I've never used it on text books, but there are hints both on this message board and in the PLC on how to do just that.
Remember, there may not be shortcuts, but there are effective techniques for adult learners.
